Blizzard Summarizes Overwatch 2 Beta and Teases New Character
The second beta tests of Overwatch 2 have come to an end. Players are rather satisfied, and Blizzard has gathered the feedback it wanted. The studio plans one more test before releasing the game in early access - it's possible that it will introduce the new „fox-related heroine”.
Overwatch 2 is set to be released in early access on October 4, 2022, almost three years after the announcement. Yesterday, Blizzard ended the second beta testing of the game (it lasted since June 28, the first batch of tests ran from April 26 to May 17) and thanked the community for its support. The developer assures that it will continue to balance characters based on player suggestions.
Third beta confirmed
The studio also has plans for new features and content that it intends to share with fans over the next few months. Some of these should be testable during the third beta of Overwatch 2, which was confirmed a month ago by the game's director, Aaron Keller, in an interview with Twitch user Potxeca (via Reddit).
New characters
Keller revealed a plan to introduce another female character, specifically a tank called Mauga. However, it seems that we will first have to meet another female warrior.
In October 2019, Game Informer editor Andrew Reiner, while visiting Blizzard headquarters, was said to have seen four unannounced characters. One of them might have been Mauga, while the other was introduced for the recent beta tests Junker Queen. The third, meanwhile, was described by Reiner as "a woman with short hair and knee-high creature resembling a desert fennec at her side." (we could see a similar animal at around the 1:20 mark of the trailer below).
This agrees with yesterday's announcement from Blizzard, which mentiones "some unannounced, fox-related heroine who will join the list of support characters." What's more, a Twitter user by the handle Hazelet, who figured out the mysterious code that was displayed to players yesterday after the beta tests ended. According to him, next time fans will be able to check out both this "foxy heroine" and the as yet unavailable map called Kenezaka.
Players mostly pleased
Third beta-testing of Overwatch 2 should take place in late August/early September (unless the early access launch scheduled for October is postponed). However, players are happy with the game right now. Many of them are praising 5 vs. 5 clashes on Reddit, which have replaced the familiar 6 vs. 6 team battles from the first Overwatch, claiming that they now find it difficult to return to the latter.
According to others, this bring some freshness to the game, nevertheless somewhat limits the usefulness of certain types of characters, thus making the game a bit faster, but less tactical. There were even suggestions that Blizzard should implement both types of clashes, even if it would mean that the balance of these 6 vs. 6 would not be ideal.
Overall, however, it can be said that "Blizzard is on its way to creating a good game." So will Overwatch 2 really meet fans' expectations? How will the free-to-play model work out for it? We will find out on October 4.
